Will Rogue
State Agency
Close Animal Shelters? Mass. Dept.
of Agriculture has Conflicts of Interest In Bed
with Dog Breeders
Tom Duggan
The Massachusetts Department
of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) has been
targeting and harassing dog rescues
in Massachusetts for years. They are the
state agency in charge of regulation and
enforcement of the animal industry it the
state.
Dog rescues are generally nonprofit
shelters for abused, neglected and
homeless dogs. These rescues rely on
volunteers to save dogs that are
scheduled to be killed in high kill
shelters in other states. They
bring them back to Massachusetts and have
a network of animal lovers who agree to:
foster the dogs temporarily,
bringing them to the vet, feed and care
for them and make sure they are healthy
and safe until a permanent home for them
can be found.
These shelters have been and continue to
be targeted by the state workers at MDAR
because, the shelter supporters say,
there is a conflict of interest going on
at the rogue state agency where, former
dog breeders and current dog breeders as
well as those who do business in the dog
breeding and pet store industry are
actually working at the agency and using
the power of the government to put
shelters (whom they see as competition)
out of business.
Now the dog breeders within the MDAR and
pet store lobby have partnered up with
state legislators to push a bill that
would give the agency full authority to
create state regulations and impose them
on the shelter industry with no
oversight, effectively putting them out
of business.
According to Roll Call, at
issue (among other bills pending) is
House Bill 1445 which was filed by
Rep. Kay Khan (D-Newton). The bill allows
MDAR to create at its sole discretion
regulations governing every single aspect
of operations of nonprofit animal
shelters and rescue organizations.
But breeders, backyard breeders, and pet
stores go unregulated.
They are saying things like, anyone
who fosters or adopts a puppy cant
have carpeting? They have to have
separate cleaning areas, this is
ridiculous, said one shelter
volunteer. How are we going to find
people to take in these poor animals when
we have to start excluding people who
have carpets? These new rules will
ultimately do away with foster homes,
which many rescue organizations rely on.
In turn, these rescues will have to shut
down; the ultimate goal of Kay Khan and
Bill 1445.
The volunteers who spoke with The Valley
Patriot said they were afraid to be
identified in our story. One of whom said
that retribution at MDAR was rampant.
The DOA will shut down my shelter
in a heartbeat if you use my name,
she said fearfully. They are not
shy about threatening those who speak
out, they are big on retribution. We
comply with their demands no matter how
unreasonable out of fear, she said.
A newsletter published by MassFed pushing
the passage of House Bill 3650 stats that
the problem they are trying
to address is Thousands of stray
and feral dogs and cats are being
imported into Massachusetts by not for
profit animal shelters. Animals are
coming from Puerto Rico, various other
Caribbean Islands and foreign countries.
Many of these animals come with tropical
diseases including ehrlichia, babesia,
resistant strains of giardia, mange,
fungus and other diseases. In 2004 one
shelter imported a feral puppy from
Puerto Rico that tested positive for
rabies! Although pet stores are highly
regulated, there is currently no
regulation of 501(C) 3 private humane
shelters that operate as de facto pet
stores. Most veterinarians in
Massachusetts are not trained to deal
with tropical diseases. The situation
creates a public health issue.
But the shelters tell a different story
saying that there are no regulations for
breeders bringing animals from other
states or countries. Its
nothing but bull, they claim they want to
protect Massachusetts from diseases that
are brought into the state but its
just a front. You can go on the internet
right now and buy a dog, pick it up at
Logan in a few days, and nobody is
worried about those dogs brining in
diseases. The ultimate goal is to shut
down rescues. Period. But if they come
out and say that is what they are trying
to do, no one will support them. So, they
need to lie and say they are doing some
type of good for the public interest
through legislation. I ask you, read the
bill, you can see all the other things
they are trying to do to kill us off with
endless unnecessary requirements, all the
while letting breeders and pet stores go
unregulated.
Its no secret whats
going on here, another shelter
volunteer said. They (people who
work at MDAR) are very open about their
relationship with the dog breeders and
the pet stores. They are vocal about
their disdain for what we do because we
are eating into their profits. Every time
someone adopts a shelter dog they are not
buying from a breeder or a pet store.
There are people in Agriculture who are
current or former dog breeders
themselves. They are using our state
government to protect and make profits
for their own industry, she said.
What they want is a shelter free
state that gives them a monopoly on the
animal business. If these bills pass
there will be no more rescues or shelters
in Massachusetts. The profits of the
breeders will skyrocket but it will come
at the expense of thousands of puppys
lives. If we dont rescue these
animals and find them a home they are all
dead, end of story.
Conflicts of Interest
John Kenney, an inspector at the DOA whom
The Valley Patriot has received numerous
complaints about, is tasked with visiting
and inspecting rescues and shelters on
behalf of the DOA. Complaints by shelters
and rescue volunteers include Kenneys
hostility towards them and cites
nonexistent regulations to either shut
down or burden the shelters with costs
that are so prohibitive they cannot
continue to operate.
On its website The Massachusetts
Federation of Dog Clubs and Responsible
Dog Owners (MassFed), and the Yankee
Siberian Husky Club in Massachusetts have
John Kenney listed as a member and he
sits on the board.
He is one of the inspectors that
comes into the shelters and starts making
up restrictions. There are more, there
are many others who have connections to
the breeders in one way or another.
Lets talk about the people
who filed the bills, Another
shelter manager said.
Bill H.561 was filed by Rep. Brad
Hill and Bill H.1445 was filed by Rep.
Kay Khan under the direction of
Charlotte McGowan (a breeder) and backed
by the MassFed of Dog Owners all
breeders and dog clubs who support
everything the rescue community opposes.
Brad Hill opposed the devocalization law
that we supported, a bill that stops
people from taking dogs vocal chords so
they dont have to listen to their
barking.
Hill Calls for Uniform
Regulations Says Breeders should
have to follow same rules as shelters
State
Representative Brad Hill (R) contacted
The Valley Patriot about the bill he
filed saying he believed that there was
some confusion out there about
these bills, it is a complicated issue.
I was under the impression there
were regulations for breeders. What I
want to do is bring all parties together
to talk about this issue. We can agree
there should be oversight on all folks
dealing with animals and that oversight
needs to be fair on all sides. I want to
create a level playing field. That was
the intent of the discussion I have with
people on this issue. Im not in any
camp for or against shelters or breeders
I am in the camp of protecting the
animals and humans.
Hill said he was told by breeders of the
problems that arose after Hurricane
Katrina where dogs were being brought
into the state by shelters that had
diseases. He said he was concerned about
the need for regulations to keep the dogs
healthy.
But Hill admitted he did not know that
the regulations on importing dogs from
other states or overseas did not apply to
dog breeders, pet stores or even ordering
a dog on the internet.
I dont want to cast stones at
anyone from my point of view I want to
make sure we have safety in place for
everybody. I am a shelter owner. And I
can tell you that any dog or cat the Hill
family has ever adopted, for my entire
life, has been adopted from the Northeast
Animal Shelter in Salem. So I am not
against shelters.
Asked about concerns by the shelter
supporters about people working in the
MDAR who are former or current dog
breeders or connected to the dog breeder
industry, Hill said it was something he
was very concerned about.
If something like that is
happening, that should be of concern to
everyone. There are ethics laws that need
to be complied with and I would be
interested to know more about that. Right
now this legislation has seemed to stir
the pot and thats a good thing,
thats the legislative process. If
this legislation had not been filed, we
wouldnt be having these
conversations and learning things.
Hill said that he believed that the MDAR
already has the right to promulgate
any regulations they want without an
action of the legislature. So, some of
the things being said about these bills I
dont think are even in the bills.
Hill said he believed that the
regulations imposed on shelters should be
uniformly imposed on breeders
but he stopped short of saying he would
add language to a current bill or file a
separate bill calling for uniform
legislation holding breeders to the same
standards as shelters.
Its something I am certainly
interested in looking at, he said.
What I want is fairness and
uniformity. I think we have to make sure
that there is room in Massachusetts for
shelter dogs and breeders.
Doing Gods work
Shelters and rescues in Massachusetts
operate on a shoestring budget, mostly
through private donations and
fundraisers.
You wouldnt believe the way
they kill these poor animals in other
states another rescue volunteer
told The Valley Patriot.
Some of the ways they murder these
puppies is so heartbreaking, I want to
cry just thinking about it, she
continued. We go down to these
shelters, find the dogs scheduled to be
killed, we pay the kill shelters money to
adopt them and bring them back to
Massachusetts. Once they are here we have
to quarantine them for a period, follow
an encyclopedia of regulations and place
them in foster homes.
The difference, she
continued, is that if you buy a dog
on line, you are buying a dog from a
puppy mill or a breeder. They dont
have to comply with these ridiculous
regulations when they ship dogs to
Massachusetts. But thats because
the people who are running the
Agriculture Department are dog breeders
or involved in the pet industry. You
should see the pages and pages of
restrictions they put on shelters and
rescues, though. Its discrimination
for sure.
They treat us like we are the ones
who are killing dogs but we are the ones
saving puppies and trying to find loving
homes for them. Money talks in politics
and I think this shows just how much. If
Representative Hill really wants
uniformity and is not in bed with the
breeder industry I expect that he will
show it with his actions and file a bill
mandating that breeders have to follow
the same rules as shelters. For now we
are opposing this bill and looking for
leadership in the house to stop the MDAR
from abusing their authority. We welcome
Representative Hills backing on
that.